


Phonemes Are Hard

by deceptiveRager



Category: Star Trek
Genre: ashayam, sick!Bones, stroke, stroke recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 03:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7918273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deceptiveRager/pseuds/deceptiveRager
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bones isn't the spring Earth chicken he used to be, and with his age come all of the health issues he never thought he'd have to endure as a starship doctor. He'd diagnosed and treated a few strokes in his life, but he never thought he'd go through one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first Star Trek fic, so comments are appreciated! I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to keep going with this, as I'm a college student with almost no time on my hands to write fic lmao
> 
> "Phoneme", as mentioned in the title, means "speech sound", and are used to communicate ideas. We were discussing them in one of my lectures and I got the idea for this fic.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at hazardlightsalien.tumblr.com

Bones had diagnosed a stroke a handful of times throughout his medical career, admittedly long before joining the crew of the USS Enterprise. That being said, he hadn't been expecting to ever experience one.

  
He was on the bridge pestering the captain to try to get him to finally show up for his mandated physical when it happened. It started out as a splitting headache that made him close his eyes. The captain didn't notice, since his old friend was standing behind him. McCoy didn't even notice how dark everything got behind his eyelids.

  
"Bones? Bones you all right?" Kirk furrowed his eyebrows. The doctor had stopped making sense.

  
"Jim, it's important that you- that- you can't just-" Bones couldn't figure out what he was trying to say. "Ah, hell, y'know- say- somethin', I-" He waved one hand, clearly frustrated.

  
Bones' right side gave out under him and he swayed before crumpling to the floor. Kirk leapt out of his chair to catch at least his upper half before he hit the ground. Spock declared a medical emergency while Jim tried to get Bones to respond. The doctor looked like he was trying to talk, but couldn't. Nurse Chapel appeared with a stretcher and Jim helped her load McCoy onto it.

  
________________________________________

  
"Spock, you think he'll be all right?" Jim was pacing outside an isolation room in Sickbay.

  
The Vulcan quirked an eyebrow. "Nurse Chapel seems to think Doctor McCoy experienced an ischemic stroke. The likelihood that he will be in perfect health after this is-"

  
"Spare me the decimals, Spock." Jim stopped pacing. "I'm going back to the bridge. Comm me when he wakes up?"

  
Spock nodded, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, and watched Jim disappear down the hallway. He stayed still like a soldier until Chapel came to get him.

  
"He's awake, Commander. But you need to know- he hasn't said a word." Chapel sighed. “It’s not likely he will- he seems to understand, but he can’t respond. At least not verbally. He’s got a padd he can type on.” She sighed. “I’m keeping him here for at least the rest of the week, with plans to begin rehabilitative therapy immediately. I’m going to comm the captain and submit a formal report.” Her eyes were red.

  
Spock had stopped listening, staring at McCoy through the window in the door. “Thank you, Nurse. I’m sure the captain will be pleased to hear that the Doctor is awake.” He tried to ignore the un-Vulcan like stab of pain at the very back of his mind.

  
________________________________________

  
McCoy looked up at Spock and gave him half of a smile. The other side of his mouth twitched upward, but the stroke had weakened his muscles significantly. “Doctor McCoy.” Spock said, his face as blank as ever, and took a seat next to Bones’ biobed. “Can you understand me?”

  
Bones typed his response with shaky hands.

  
_Yes_.

  
The lack of insult worried Spock. Usually, ‘yes’ would be followed by ‘hobgoblin’, ‘computer’, or some other insult the older man came up with. “Do you need anything?”

  
_Another blanket please. And a distraction._

  
“Of course.” Spock got up and found McCoy another thermal blanket, mindlessly chattering about whatever project the science department was working on that he thought would interest the doctor. “The discovery of which lead us to realize that instead of encouraging a culture of self-sustaining, single celled bacteria as we had previously hypothesized, we ended up encouraging a cluster of nerve cells to reproduce…” He tucked the blanket around Bones. “The implications of which are quite clear, if we could figure out how to apply a similar principle to human neurons, it is likely we could repair damage left behind by- “He cut himself off. “Never mind.”

  
_Strokes._

  
“That was my assumption, yes.” He sank back into his chair, confident that Leonard McCoy would not be telling anyone about his conduct any time soon. “My apologies. I believe I have demonstrated ‘poor bedside manner’.”

  
Bones laughed. _It’s a good thing you’re not a doctor, then._ He closed his eyes for a moment. _But did your nerve cells show signs of intercellular communication?_

  
Spock went on to explain the rest of the experiment long after doctor McCoy had fallen asleep. Jim eventually came in and sat with both of them, listening to Spock ramble on.

  
________________________________________

  
After a few weeks, it became apparent that Leonard McCoy was going to take a while to recover his ability to speak. He kept trying and even managed to make a few noises. They weren’t speech sounds by any standard, but he was progressing well. He was still using the padd to communicate. Jim appointed Nurse Chapel as the acting CMO for gamma shift, M’Benga took over alpha, and the two of them switched on and off for beta.

  
After a month, he was starting to make speech sounds and was beginning to be able to string them together to produce words. Nurse Chapel was excited, as it meant she would no longer have to be the acting CMO when M’Benga wasn’t on shift.

  
________________________________________

  
“Bones, I’m not allowing you to return to any form of duty until you can speak again.” Jim had made his decision abundantly clear. “I know you’re not asking, but you scared the shit outta me and I don’t want you to push yourself.”

  
_Course, Jim._

  
“Thank you.” Jim had visibly relaxed. “Spock volunteered to be your caretaker until you see fit.”

  
_Why? He doesn’t like me._

“I think he was ‘pulling pigtails’.” The captain laughed. “Kinda like you were.”

_Shut it, kid._

Jim tucked Bones back under the blankets when he started falling asleep and set the padd where it wouldn’t get broken.

  
________________________________________

  
“Doctor, do you require assistance?” Spock asked, raising his eyebrow when McCoy dropped his spoon for the sixth time in one meal. Bones shook his head, determined to feed himself. His arm still shook with fatigue.

Once Bones was done with his food and thoroughly exhausted, Spock put his hand on his wrist. “It is not shameful to ask for help.”

 _Only if you actually need help. I won’t get any better if I don’t do these things for myself._ Bones formed his mouth around the words and kept trying to push his vocal chords to work. He knew he had muscular issues that were affecting his larynx, and continuing to try to speak was apparently helpful. He ended up producing a strained, pieced together version of his sentence that wouldn’t have made sense if he wasn’t telepathically connected to the Vulcan.

“Ashayam, your speech is improving well.” Spock regretted using ‘ashayam’ immediately after he said it- Bones would know what it meant, the two of them were in contact and Spock could not stop the emotive response associated with the word.

_Ashayam means ‘beloved’, right?_

“Yes.”

“Ah-s-am” Bones croaked, startling himself and grinning. _I’m close!_

“Yes, you’re very close. Perhaps ‘pla-kur’ would be easier for you to attempt? It means 'blue'.”

“Pa-kur.” Bones kept trying until he got even remotely close. It took him a while. “Pl-ah-kur?” He broke it down into simpler sounds and spoke slowly.

“Very good, Leonard.” Spock’s grin slowly fell into a slight, more Vulcan smile.

_I didn’t think I’d ever be able to talk again._

Spock startled slightly. He didn’t expect Bones to share his concerns. Jim had, after a while, confided in Spock that he didn’t think he’d ever hear Bones harass him about not showing up for his physical exam again.

“Clearly, that is not the case.”

Leonard just sighed and pushed his tray away from him. He usually took meals in bed, as not having to support his entire body weight and worry about eating at the same time usually worked out better for him. Spock moved the tray off of his lap and helped him adjust his pillows. “You should sleep, ashayam. You need the rest.”  
McCoy made a noise that sounded vaguely like ‘yes’, followed by his best rendition of “pla-kur”.

  
________________________________________

  
When Bones was first released from Sickbay, Spock had to push him in a wheelchair. After he regained enough muscle mass to walk on unsteady legs, Spock just wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him stay upright.

After a few weeks, Bones was allowed to walk around with just a cane and didn’t need Spock to steady him. The Vulcan still accompanied him everywhere unless he was on an away mission. If that were the case, Jim was glued to the doctor’s hip and kept him upright and laughing.

It was on one of those days that Bones said his first, full, Standard word. He kept the padd nearby, and the word came out as a series of raspy syllables, but he figured it out. He and Jim were walking slowly down the hallway so that they could talk to each other. “Captain.” He grinned. Jim looked at him for a moment, startled by the sound of his voice.

_I’m gonna ask Spock to dinner._

“Don’t the two of you eat dinner together anyway?”

 _Yeah, but this time I’m gonna actually sit at a table._ McCoy knew he was going to be exhausted by the end of it, but he wanted to welcome Spock back from an absurdly long diplomatic mission planet side. “M excited.”

Jim chuckled. “C’mon. Uhura has something for you.”

Once they got to the bridge, Uhura handed McCoy a different padd. “I’ve written and uploaded a program on there so all you have to do is press a few symbols and the padd will play a voice recording of what you want to say. There’s a key taped to the back.” She grinned. McCoy found ‘thanks’ and played it, surprised when Sulu’s voice played out of the small speaker. “Oh! Sulu and Scotty let me record them saying a bunch of words and use them so you have some form of a voice instead of just a computer.”

“Thanks.” McCoy’s voice hurt him to use every once in a while, but it was more that he was constantly exhausted. He still wasn’t used to using his weakened muscles. He looked over at Spock’s empty station and turned the volume down so he could talk privately with Uhura about how to use the program.

  
________________________________________

  
Bones was leaning on the wall opposite the transporter pad, waiting with his newly updated padd for Spock. When the Vulcan appeared, Bones grinned. “Pock.” Leonard still couldn’t quite string ‘s’ and ‘p’ together, so Spock’s name became ‘pock’. He reached his free hand out and Spock wrapped a supportive arm around his waist. The doctor let his hand snake around Spock’s back.

“Ashayam, I hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

“Look.” McCoy showed Spock the program Uhura had written him. “Sulu and ‘Cotty.” He was frustrated that he couldn’t speak in full sentences all the time yet, but Chapel was helping him still get his speech sounds down first. It had been about two months since he’d collapsed on the bridge.

“This appears to be a most beneficial program- has Lieutenant Uhura submitted it to Starfleet as well?”

“Dunno.” McCoy leaned into Spock. He still tired easily. Spock supported him on their walk back to their now-shared quarters. “I’m tired.” He groused quietly, making Spock smile. It was nice to hear Bones speak in a sentence, even if he was complaining.

“Then we shall postpone our dinner plans until you are feeling up to them, Leonard.”

Spock helped Leonard get into bed and curled up around him before ordering the lights to ten percent and listening to Leonard fall asleep.

________________________________________

  
Seven months after his stroke, Leonard McCoy was able to have a short conversation. He still tired easily, but he could physically talk without the padd for a few minutes at a time. Spock had insisted on continually pushing off their dinner plans until Leonard could sit up and eat without the use of pillows. The two of them made their way to the mess hall, grabbed food from a replicator, and sat down.

“Ashayam, how are you feeling?”

“I’m doing all right, ‘Pock.” Leonard kept up ‘pock’ more to see the amused look in Spock’s face than because he was having difficulty pronouncing his name. “Not quite so tired all the time.”

They kept on like that for a while, Leonard switching between using the padd and using his voice.

“Leonard, may I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

Spock looked like he was pulling together the determination to speak. For once, it wasn’t McCoy who was at a loss for words. “Leonard, I have been your primary caretaker for the past five months. In that time, I have gotten to know you better than I ever had and melded with your mind. I am now asking that you enter a Vulcan bond with me.”

“Bond?” Leonard raised an eyebrow. “We’re not?”

“The rudiments of a bond are present, but not purposefully planted, no.”

“Yes. Yes.” McCoy tapped the button on the padd twice, Scotty’s voice sounding through the mess hall.

________________________________________

  
Once they were officially and purposefully bonded, Spock was more capable of sensing McCoy’s needs. He could tell when the doctor was getting fatigued, when he just didn’t want to talk, or if he needed physical support to walk. His muscles were rebuilding rapidly after he’d been cleared for light physical activity. In return, Bones could tell when Spock needed him to talk and when he just needed to be near him, and Bones would try his hardest to keep Spock happy. It usually worked for both of them, and kept McCoy from feeling like he was locked in when he had bad days and just didn't want to speak at all.

A year and a half after his stroke, Bones made his decision.

“Pock.” Bones slowly got himself onto one knee. “I know we’re bonded, but marry me?” He had a ring in the palm of his hand. It wasn’t anything crazy, just a simple gold braided band with a single, small blue gem in the center. Spock nodded and put the ring on his finger.

“Of course, ashayam.”

Bones and Spock got married by Jim quickly (McCoy still had trouble standing for long periods of time) and had the promise of their next shore leave being their longest for their honeymoon.

________________________________________

  
When their time for shore leave came three months after they got married, Bones was having a bad day. He didn’t want to talk because his throat was sore, his legs didn’t want to hold him up, and his arm trembled whenever he tried to lift it. He’d known he was going to have these days, but Spock’s determination to take care of him convinced him it wasn’t going to last forever. His husband pushed him on the beach in his wheelchair and nattered on about something to distract him. Bones leaned down on his weak side and picked up a little twisted shell. He passed it shakily to Spock, who placed it gently in the pocket of his wheelchair and kept going.

“Ashayam, how are you?”

Bones hit the ‘tired’ button.

“It will pass.”

Bones nodded and let Spock push him. “Pock.” He put his strong hand on Spock’s where he was holding the chair. “Love you.” He smiled.

Spock kissed the top of his head and grinned. “I return that sentiment, Leonard. Though perhaps it is time both of us retired?” Spock didn’t know if he meant from Starfleet or for the evening, and he didn’t think Bones knew either when he tapped ‘yes’.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo surprise second chapter! I wasn't expecting to get this done ever but I have a bit of time in between my classes and can actually crack out a second chapter!
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!

It was a long time after their week-long shore leave before Spock let Bones walk anywhere unaccompanied. The doctor, while planet side, had barely spoken and fell often despite the planet's Earth-like conditions. The gravity was slightly more than 10.6 meters per second per second by the Vulcan's (rather precise) estimate, and though the difference between the planets was a mere 0.8 meters per second per second, Bones seemed to be severely negatively affected by it. Once they were back aboard the ship, doctor M'Benga and nurse Chapel thoroughly checked Bones out for any complications that could've arisen due to the leave. Bones, on the other hand, just wanted a nap and threw Spock exasperated looks the entire time.

"Leonard, it would be illogical for us not to determine whether your difficulties on the planet were merely caused by your body's need to work harder to function against its gravity or if they were a sign of your condition worsening." Spock caved after the fourth pointed look, and M'Benga agreed that they would assess McCoy when he wasn't feeling quite so tired. Spock wheeled Bones up to the bridge to see Jim before taking him to their now shared quarters. Bones fell asleep in the chair on their way back and Spock simply lifted him out and onto their bed.

"Rest well, ashayam."

________________________________________

Spock was needed on the bridge for the first time since they'd gotten back, and the entire Sickbay wouldn't let him stay. McCoy had been assessed and was discussing a future plan of intervention with M'Benga.

"According to our assessment, Doctor McCoy's muscles are overworked from continued exposure to the planet's gravity. He should be back to where he was after a few days, maybe a week, of proper rest." Chapel informed Spock with a smile. "If not, we'll go back through some of the therapy we did more at the beginning, with a slightly different approach. Don't worry, Commander, we'll see to it he's just fine."

Spock cast Leonard one last worried look, which the doctor rolled his eyes at, and departed.

Bones, on the other hand, had a completely free day as he'd been removed from the light duty he was supposed to be cleared for, and got to work on his speech again. M'Benga carefully coached him through sounds again, the "make yours match mine" approach being the best one for Leonard.

After a few hours of learning how to move his mouth again, Leonard was exhausted and fell asleep in Sickbay.

________________________________________

A few months later, Bones moved a chess piece across a two-dimensional board. He couldn't keep up with three-dimensional chess yet. Spock had been sent on a diplomatic mission again and Jim was keeping Leonard company. Whether that company was for Bones' or Jim's sake, though, neither one of them could say.

"Bones, he'll be fine."

"I know." Bones tapped a few icons. He was talking less and less outside of his sessions with M'Benga, the effort of trying to speak too much for his already tired larynx. "Not him I'm worried about." 

Jim eyed him carefully and moved his piece. "Oh? You wanna talk to me about it, Bones?"

Bones set his padd to the side and tried not to glare at his friend. He meant well. "I'm tired, Jim." He spoke slowly, like he was sounding out each of the words. He took a break and Jim waited for him. "My voice- tired. My legs- tired. I'm jus' so damn tired." 

The captain sighed. "If you want to retire, Bones, you can. Nobody would blame you." He could see how hard trying to get back to even light duty aboard the Enterprise was for McCoy.

"Pock doesn't want to. Won't let me go alone." McCoy ran a shaking hand through his hair and moved his piece. "Otherwise I would. Can't work on a 'tarship, captain." He sighed, miserable. "Not now."

Jim reached across the chess board and settled his steady hand on McCoy's trembling one. "We're here if you need us. There isn't a planetary base for a while, though we'll warp ahead as fast as we can to get you there should you manage to let yourself retire." He smiled. "It's no trouble, Bones. Do what you need to do."

Bones smiled, but only half of his face moved. He tried to speak and couldn't. Jim immediately called a medical emergency, but after a few minutes Bones was almost back to where he was before. Nurse Chapel escorted both of them to Sickbay, assessed McCoy, and let Spock know what had happened.

"It's a Transient Ischemic Attack, which is considered more like a 'warning stroke' than an actual stroke. The main difference is that TIAs don't cause lasting damage. They're relatively common in individuals who have experienced a stroke before. We're lucky it was only a TIA." Chapel put McCoy under observation and Jim ran to get their chess game so McCoy wouldn't go insane sitting in Sickbay.

________________________________________

McCoy put the request in for retirement almost a day after his transient ischemic attack. Spock put a request in for his resignation from Starfleet, specifying that he was the primary caretaker of a retiring member of Starfleet aboard the Enterprise and was the most equipped to handle his needs (he elected not to mention that the two of them were married). After two weeks heading toward the nearest planetary base at warp four, Spock and McCoy packed everything up and left the Enterprise. 

Uhura organized a going-away party for both of them. 

McCoy was in his chair for a majority of the evening, having adjusted his and Spock's room to the planet's gravity in an attempt to determine how fatigued it would make him. He was exhausted just from trying to stand up and perform his usual activities (showering, packing, managing to close out his reports). He'd sent the last of his reports to Jim before the party.

Spock, on the other hand, had plenty of energy and would send McCoy gently encouragement through their bond. After having his stroke, Leonard would experience moments of severe depression as a result of his inability to effectively communicate, and Spock often found that a nudge in the right direction was enough to help the doctor out of them. He never strayed far from his husband and charge. Scotty cried and handed McCoy a bottle of questionable alcohol from a small distillery he'd concocted on the ship. Sulu and Uhura had updated his padd with a host of new words that McCoy wasn't sure he'd ever use conversationally, but were in Jim's voice and would probably be used just so the country doctor could hear his old friend talk. 

"Doctor, are you sure you have to go?" Chapel wrapped her arms around him. The two of them had become thick as thieves in Sickbay over the course of the five-year mission. "M'not sure what we'll do without you. You'll answer if we call, right?" She was crying. 

"Course, Chris, I'll pick up right away." McCoy whispered, wrapping his stronger arm around her. "You know I will." 

M'Benga and the rest of the medical team followed suit, wishing the CMO well and making him promise that he'd call every once in a while, even if he didn't talk. The science team did something similar with Spock, but with more restrained emotions out of respect for his boundaries. They wished him well and made him promise to call them every once in a while, lest they be forced to contact him with mundane questions they certainly had the answers for.

Jim was the only one who didn't show up to the party, being busy putting through all of the requests and authorizing paperwork, and met up with them privately in the quarters so he could cry over losing his CMO and first officer, let alone his two best friends. 

"You have to call me at least once a week. You can't just go dark." He made Spock and McCoy shake on it, crying the entire time. "I'm serious. I'll turn the Enterprise around and force my company on you two if you don't."

"Captain, we will call you as often as we can." Spock assured him quietly.

"Within reason." McCoy added, knowing that Jim would sit by his communication unit until they called. "Can't have you dis'racted tryin' to captain a ship."

They left in the morning, thoroughly cried out and with the promise that they'd call Jim immediately upon their arrival to their home.

________________________________________

Spock had called Jim that evening, the next day, the day after that, and so on. Until he didn't call him at all. Jim did as he'd said he would after a month of radio silence. He turned the Enterprise around and set a course for the planetary base, which Sulu proceeded to follow at warp six. When the captain, Sulu, and Scotty beamed down (Uhura had decided against going and had the conn), they found Spock at home, sitting alone at their kitchen table.

"Where's Bones?" Jim looked around.

"He is currently in the intensive care unit at the local hospital. A few days after we arrived here, he began showing signs of a second, then third transient ischemic attack." Spock's hands were curled into tight fists. "He suffered a second stroke this morning. I am not currently allowed to see him as I am not family." Judging by the way he'd spat the last sentence, Spock had attempted to convince the hospital to let him stay with his husband and had been thoroughly denied. "I felt his confusion, his fear, through our bond. I know he is in pain and can do nothing about it. And now he is alone."

Jim, Sulu, and Scotty pulled up chairs around Spock. The captain wrapped his arm around Spock's shoulders. "We're here if you need us."

"I'll go tell Christine and Nyota." Sulu disappeared into another room to make the call- Spock had started crying and he didn't think he could handle an emotional Vulcan on top of a crying Christine Chapel. 

Spock just buried his face in his hands and cried while Jim and Scotty tried to comfort him. 

________________________________________

After two days, Spock and Jim were allowed into McCoy's hospital room. Spock brought the padd he'd been using to communicate since his second TIA. The doctor looked worse than he had after his first stroke. He couldn't lift his right arm at all, and when he smiled the right side of his face only twitched. "Pock! Jim!" His voice was heavily distorted, and the simple words were difficult to understand. He held his good arm out and Spock immediately wrapped him in his arms. 

"Ashayam, you scared me." Spock murmured into McCoy's hair, kissing his head and holding him tight. Jim leaned against the wall next to the door.

"You scared us both, Bones." His voice caught in his throat.

"Shit." McCoy tapped, Jim's voice coming out of the padd. "I'm sorry." He felt Jim take his free hand. 

Spock wouldn't let him lie back down. McCoy had to ask him to so that he could type better. Even then, the Vulcan seemed reluctant to let go of any part of Leonard McCoy, and kept one hand firmly on his person at all times. They sat and talked for a while, Spock speaking quietly and Bones replying through the padd. After he fell asleep, a doctor knocked on the door.

"Mr. Spock? Captain Kirk?" She was a small female with square glasses and a padd. She was an alien species Jim had not encountered before- her orange hair was in a tightly pulled back bun, her eyes were completely white, and her skin was light pink. "I need to speak with you about doctor McCoy's condition. If you will step outside so that we don't wake him up?" She motioned for them to follow her. The three formed a small group outside and she kept her voice low to give them privacy. "His condition appears to be significantly worse than it was after his first stroke based on doctor M'Benga's data. I assume this is correct?" She waited for Spock to nod before continuing. "As his primary caretaker, Mr. Spock, you should know that his muscle control is greatly reduced. It is likely that his recovery will take a very long time, if he manages to recover to the point where he was before at all. He is capable of simpler sounds, mostly vowels, and has difficulty with multiple consonant sounds at once. It's noted that his ability to pronounce 'st' is completely negated, but not something that makes him unable to be understood. Is this correct?"

Spock wasn't processing any information anymore. He heard it, filed it away for later perusal, but had stopped actively thinking about Leonard's recovery after she said he may not recover. Jim replied instead. "Yes, it is." 

"Okay. We're going to begin rehabilitative therapy tomorrow, to see if we can recover his speech and at least some of his motor movement on the right side. He will likely not walk without assistance, will grow fatigued easier than before, and have difficulty performing fine motor tasks with his right side." She ran through a list of complications quickly, making sure to cover everything she physically could. "It is important to note, though, that while he cannot do some things, he is not incapable of action entirely. Encourage him where you can, and if you notice any improvement outside of our sessions you must notify me immediately. He may not perform certain tasks for me, but it does not mean he cannot perform them at all." She smiled a little sadly. "My name is Katera Adaar should you need me for anything. Do you have any questions?"

Jim asked her a thousand questions and she gave him as many answers as she could. Spock just kept himself quiet, both hands clasped tight enough to hurt behind his back.

"Captain, might I be allowed to speak with Mr. Spock in private?" She sounded sweet, but there was an edge underneath that clearly meant she wasn't actually asking. Jim nodded, turned on his heel, and went to sit with Bones. "Mr. Spock, is there anything you need to ask me? I've already cleared up the discrepancy with the front desk- I must apologize many times over for that." She sounded angry that he hadn't been allowed in. "You should know that, if you choose, you may sit with him regardless of visitation hours." 

"Doctor Adaar, there is no need for you to apologize. I trust you are his primary physician?"

"I am his speech pathologist and physical therapist, yes. However, the neurologist currently assigned to him is listed as his primary physician should anything occur- why?"

"You seem well-equipped to handle someone in his situation."

"Sonatar, my home planet, primarily focuses on research concerning medicine. His is not the first case I have encountered, nor will it be the last." She swept a flyaway hair out of her face with red-tinged fingers. "Though the fact that he is able to make speech sounds at all is reassuring, Mr. Spock. He may not be able to walk the walk, but I believe he will be able to, as the humans say, 'talk the talk'." She smiled again. "I will personally see to his speech therapy. Doctor M'Benga provided a necessary base, and his notes are incredibly detailed. I'm sure we'll be able to get Doctor McCoy speaking again much sooner than I had originally hoped, especially if the two of you are talking to him." She made a note on her padd. "My apologies again, Mr. Spock, but I must take my leave. I am needed elsewhere- is there anything else you require?"

Spock shook his head, thanked her, and watched her disappear down the hallway. Hopefully, with her help, Leonard would recover from this.

He had to.

He just  _had_ to.


	3. Chapter 3

Bones spent almost all of his waking hours in some form of therapy for a few months. He was progressing more slowly than before, but progressing a bit each day was better than not at all. Spock kept the padd around for when he came back. Bones had given up on trying to use his right hand for anything other than holding something, and found the icons he wanted slowly with his left. Katera was helpful, often sticking around to keep the doctor company until Spock or Jim (who had kept the Enterprise in orbit so that some of the crew could beam down and visit McCoy every once in a while) came to sit with him. She often found that the doctor spoke better in a less formal setting. Whether it was the pressure of wanting to do well in their sessions that tripped him up or if she was doing something wrong, but whenever she sat with him, his speech was leaps ahead of where he seemed to be.

“May I call you Leonard?” She had continued to call him Doctor McCoy.

“Don’ see why you can’.” He smiled. “Not like we don’ spen’ time with each other.”

The speech therapist laughed. She had a fondness for the country doctor. “You are doing quite well, Leonard. Your speech has progressed nicely- given a few more weeks you might not need me anymore.”

Bones was positively beaming. “I’ll ‘till come say hi.” He liked her, he just didn’t want to be in the hospital anymore.

“I make house calls if you _really_ miss me.” Katera teased him lightly. Spock was hanging in the doorway. “Come in, Mr. Spock. There’s no need for you to stand there like a wall ornament.”

Spock quirked an eyebrow and settled into the second chair. Bones waved with his good hand, practically bouncing. “Tera says I can come home soon! Apparen’ly ‘is old dog can learn new tricks.”

The Vulcan chuckled quietly. Katera hadn’t ever heard him laugh. She’d seen him cry after a week of doctor McCoy hardly speaking a word and struggling to lift his arm despite a fair amount of effort. She’d encouraged him when both he and Leonard had gotten frustrated at being at square one. Seeing him laugh was refreshing. Spock took hold of Leonard’s wrist. Katera seemed to be aware of Vulcan customs, so he did not want to make her uncomfortable by taking his hand.

“Perhaps, Leonard.” Spock smiled a bit. “If Doctor Adaar deems you fit to leave.”

“I believe I should take my leave, if you are planning to stay Mr. Spock.” The speech pathologist stood, smoothed out her scrubs and coat, picked up her padd, and bid both of them farewell.

________________________________________

Bones came home after a few more weeks of intense therapy and only had to go back for weekly appointments. He had a rollator for his really good days and Katera had sent him home with a wheelchair for his not so good days. She didn’t want him to feel like he always had to walk simply because he wasn’t in the hospital anymore.

Spock and Bones took evening walks (or evening rolls, as McCoy often called them) just to get both of them out of the house. Spock took up a position as an adjunct professor for the base’s academy and Leonard came in to guest lecture every once in a while. The students loved him not only because his lectures were always short, but because he made it a point to make his lectures interesting. He tried to tell stories from his time aboard the “Ennerprise”, as he called it.

Even if he wasn’t lecturing, McCoy would come and sit in the hall. He always sat in the back, and eventually the students who enjoyed his medical lectures more than Spock’s scientific ones gravitated to sitting in the back with him. One of them even baked him a basket of cookies, cupcakes, and even bread.

Bones and Spock occasionally invited Katera over for dinner. She never attended Spock’s lectures, as her shift didn’t end before they started, but McCoy considered her a close friend after his extended hospital stay. She lived in the apartment complex across the street from the two ex-Starfleet officers.

Jim eventually couldn’t keep giving Starfleet excuses for staying in orbit. Bones always called in the morning, right at the start of gamma shift. Bones said hello to everyone on the bridge, and then got transferred over to Sickbay where he could say hello to Christine and M’Benga and find out what nonsense he’d been missing on the Enterprise. He missed being aboard the starship, but he couldn’t physically handle being in space anymore. His muscles wouldn’t hold up.

________________________________________

Bones was slowly rolling next to Spock who had one hand on the side of his wheelchair. The Vulcan’s hair was starting to turn gray, and Bones looked much older than he actually was. He and Spock had attached a picnic basket to the chair and filled it with some of the baked goods his students had made them. Spock spread out a blanket and helped McCoy sit in the park before he began to unload dinner.

“How are you, ashayam?” Spock made him a plate and set it in his lap.

“Hanks.” Leonard picked up a fork with a handle specifically made for people who had enough trouble with feeding themselves and started the slow process of eating. “I’m not bad. Walkin’ is hard today.” His drawl combined with the speech difficulties from his two strokes almost made him difficult to understand, but he spoke slowly and made up for it.

Spock made himself a plate and sat next to his husband. His knees cracked quietly. “One of your favorites has informed me that she made you a cover for your rollator handle to keep it warm so your hands don’t get cold. I believe she has taken a liking to you.” Spock quirked his eyebrow. “As have several of my other students.”

“Well, I’m an old coun’ry doc’or. Makes sense.” Leonard laughed. His hand shook badly, but while the handle shook, the end stayed steady. Spock had originally heard of them from Katera, who said that she often recommended them for patients suffering from Parkinson’s and believed they would benefit Leonard.

The two of them ate dinner and watched the sun set. Spock draped a blanket over McCoy’s legs after it got dark. “I believe Jim is intending to loop back around and visit us soon.”

McCoy leaned against Spock. “S’been a year. He said he wan’ed to this mornin’. ‘Cotty keeps sayin’ he’s gonna rig up a ship and warp here.” He sighed.

“The two of you were close aboard the Enterprise. How is Christine?”

“Chris misses bot’ of us. M’Benga is unbearable.”

They chatted for a while until McCoy started to fall asleep. The two could sit and stare at the stars for the rest of their lives and remember when they were among them. Spock packed everything up and helped Leonard back into his chair. They wheeled around the block for a bit before going home. They had a message from Jim, telling them when they could expect him and rambling on about how much he missed both of them. Even Jim was starting to look older. Spock helped McCoy change into his pajamas and get to bed.

“Rest well, ashayam.” Spock kissed his forehead. McCoy reached his arms up and Spock practically fell into them.

“Pock.” McCoy kissed him. “Love you.”

Spock grinned. “I love you too, Leonard.”


End file.
